Robot Caretaker

This is a project aiming to aid remote caretakers with expressing body language to patients using humanoid robots.

Table of Contents

• Requirements
• Setup (Windows)
• How to use
• Adding a new Robot
• Robot Motion Language
• Troubleshooting
• Navigating this Repository
• Glossary
• To Forkers

Requirements

• NodeJS 16+
  • Optional: yarn (npm install -g yarn)
• Python 3.10+
• RabbitMQ
  • choco install rabbitmq
• Webots R2022b (newer versions not tested)

Setup (Windows)

All commands are to run from /<subdir to setup>

Robot-Motion-Language:

• npm i
• run npm run build:web from /robot-motion-language directory if you have made any changes to RML

Web frontend:

• npm install
• yarn start or npm start
• Browser window should open automatically at http://localhost:3000

Web backend:

• Create venv if first time setup:
  • python -m venv venv
• Activate venv:
  • .\venv\Scripts\activate
• pip install -r requirements.txt
• python server.py

RabbitMQ:

• Go to http://localhost:15672 to confirm that rabbitmq is running
• if not running, open rabbitMQ as a windows service
• Default credentials if you want to monitor:
  • Username: guest
  • Password: guest

Robot Simulation:

• pip install -r requirements.txt (Webots do not support Virtual environments as of version 2022b)
• Open robot-caretaker\webots_simulation\worlds\example.wbt in Webots. (Simulation starts automatically)

The system should now be running end-to-end.

Try clicking a button in the web-UI and see if it is sent to the robot simulation.

How to use

Make Robot Perform Motion

On the webpage there are several large buttons coresponding to a robot motion. Clicking one of these will result in the robot performing that motion.

Right-clicking on the buttons will result in creating a sequence of motions that will be performed in order when clicking the green Perform button.

Adding a New Motion

First, let's create a new motion

• Click the Add Motion button in the navigation bar at the top of the page.
• You are presented with a Code Editor.
• Follow the RobotMotionLanguage guide to create a motion.
• Click the SAVE Button to save your motion function to the system.
• Restart the Webots simulation

Let's add a button for performing the motion

• Click the green + button in the bottom right corner of the webpage.
• An input field will appear. Enter the name and sentiment of the new motion (name should be similar to motion-function) and press ENTER.

The robot should now perform the motion when clicking the button!

To delete a motion button, click the red trashcan in the bottom right corner of the webpage. An input field will appear. Enter the exact name and sentiment of the motion button you would like to delete and press ENTER.

To hide the input field, refresh the page.

Adding a new robot

This system allows you to easily add any robot:

• Duplicate the /webots_simulation directory (or create a new Webots world file)
• Open the new Webots world file and stop the simulation
• Delete any existing robots in the scene
• Add the new robot to the Webots world and change its controller to robot_controller.py
• Fill in values for joint motors and sensors in /controllers/robot_controller/config.yaml (any joint-rotation not present in the config file can safely be added. Use the naming convention of the other joints)
• Start the simulation

The system should now be functional with your newly added robot.

Robot Motion Language (RML)

RML is a custom DSL that allows easy creation of motions. RML is intended to use in the monaco code editor in the browser.

How to use the Editor

Use the editor as any other text editor.

Press Enter for newline.

Press Tab for an indent.

If any text has a red underline, hover your mouse over it to see what the problem is and follow the message to fix it.

When you open up the editor, an RML example should be displayed.

Notice the indentation structure. This is not strictly neccessary, but makes the program much easier to read.

How to structure RML

• define wave Defines a motion called wave. The define contains more RML code, demonstrated by indentation. Anything more indented than the define is contained within it. The end at the same indentation-level as the define, terminates it. We call commands that contains code and ends with an end a block command. Remember to indent any contained code for readability.

• repeat 3 is another block command. It will perform any code contained between it and its end 3 times. Note that the 3 can be an arbitrary integer. Remember to indent any contained code for readability.

• multimove is another block command. It will perform any command contained between it and its end simultaneously rather than in sequence. Remember to indent any contained code for readability.

• move right shoulder pitch to -1.5 is the final command. This will move the specified joint to the specified end-position -1.5.

Usage

define <your_motion_name>
    <Rest of RML code is indented and goes here>
end

Note that <your_motion_name> is arbitrary, but don't include spaces.

repeat <amount>
    <RML code to be repeated is indented and goes here>
end

Note that <amount> is an arbitrary integer.

multimove
    <RML to be performed simultainously is indented>
end

move <side> <joint> <rotation> to <position>

Note that <side> and <rotation> is not always needed depending on the joint.

• Available options for <side>:
  • right | left
• Available options for <joint>:
  • head | fingers | wrist | elbow | shoulder | torso | hip | knee | ankle | toes
• Available options for <rotation>:
  • pitch | roll | yaw
• <position> is the position the joint will end up in. It is specified in Radians.

Troubleshooting

• I expected an outcome, but it did not happen?
  • Check the terminal of the responsible application for any error messages.
• My robot won't perform a motion?
  • Make sure all motors and sensors in the Motion-Function you are trying to run is set in your config.yaml
  • Make sure your robot supports all the joints used in the Motion you are trying to run.
  • Make sure your mood card name is as close as possible to the motion you are trying to perform.
• Can't activate Virtual environment?
  • Open powershell as admin and type: Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
• Frontend won't run?
  • Try npm audit fix (optionally with --force)
• Fatal error in launcher when trying to pip install?
  • Use python -m pip install <package_to_be_installed>
• Webots simulator does not run (timestep stuck at 0.00)?
  • Restart Webots.
• SSL tag mismatch?
  • Some requirements does not like to be downloaded/installed over 5Ghz connection. Try 2.4Ghz or Ethernet.

Navigating this repository

• backend Contains the Flask server and is the backend of the web-app

  • messaging Publisher
  • server.py API endpoints

• frontend React app

  • public
    • rml-generator.js Bundle from RML dir that allows RML to JSON generation
    • rml-server-worker Bundle from RML dir that allows RML to be used in monaco editor.
  • src
    • components React components (navbar, moodgrid, moodcards..)
    • pages The pages the React-router browses between
    • App.tsx Main page

• robot-motion-language (RML) The DSL to create motions with

  • src
    • cli DSL command line functions and tool
    • generator Generates JSON from an RML program
    • language-server
      • generated Langium generated semantic model
      • main-browser.ts Entry point for use in browser
      • main.ts Entry point for use as extension
      • validator Syntax validation
      • .langium Grammar for RML
    • web Functions used in web. Bundled and exported to frontend
  • package.json See scripts for bundling and compiling

• webots_simulation

  • controllers
    • robot_controller General controller for robots in Webots.
      • config.yaml Config file used as resolver for robot-device naming and initialization.
      • motion_functions.py File with motions that robots can perform. This file will be appended to when creating a new motion in the frontend.
      • robot_controller.py This is the robot controller.
      • subscriber.py Subscriber logic. Used in supercontroller.py
  • worlds .wbt file to open in Webots

Glossary

• Controller or Robot Controller
  • This is a script that tells the robot what to do.
• Motion-Function
  • A function of motor-setting sequences resulting in an animation/motion.
• Instruction
  • What the robot will perform e.g wave, smile, cheer...
• Command
  • Part of an instruction. i.e "move right shoulder pitch"
• MoodCard
  • The cards/button in the frontend you click to make the robot perform an instruction

To Forkers:

The RML input is not currently sanitized before it is stored in the system

The RML bundle in frontend is added to VC for ease of developing. This is not recommended and should be added to .gitignore. This is the reason it says this repo is 99.5% JS

Styling in frontend is largely in-line, feel free to redo

Fonts and other real-time retrieved assets will not work on Intranet. To fix, include assets in project